


Better Together

by lostcrusades



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Comfort, Embarrassment, Fluff, Insomnia, M/M, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 08:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12860358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostcrusades/pseuds/lostcrusades
Summary: When Arin and Dan share a hotel room during their writing retreat, Dan has a hard time sleeping.





	Better Together

**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self-indulgent. I love my soft, giggly boys. Heavily inspired by episode 15 of Mario Odyssey.

Dan could feel the jetlag creeping up on him, his movements sluggish and heavy. His eyes blinked slowly, and it was almost as if everything was in slow motion. He distantly recognized that everyone but Arin had gotten off the elevator and said their goodnights, leaving him and Arin alone.

Arin, Brian, and Dan had all landed in Texas that afternoon for their Starbomb writing retreat, and had wandered around for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the couple weeks to come. The TWRP boys were expected to be arriving in a couple of days, letting Dan, Arin, and Brian get a head start on cranking out the album.

As much as Dan loved working with Arin and Brian, and loved what the three of them could pull off together, a distant part in the back of his head dreaded the coming days. They would have little to no free time, working for hours and days on end with no break. Dan was someone who loved winding down after a stressful week with some alone time, just to chill out, but he wouldn’t be getting that for at least a couple of weeks. 

At that thought he made a rough noise in the back of his throat, shifting uncomfortably against the wall of the elevator. The handle bar dug into his back and he grimaced, shifting again before giving up and standing up properly.

Arin looked over to him, concerned. 

“You alright buddy?” Arin asked.

Dan nodded and ran his hand through his hair. 

“I’m alright, just tired, I guess,” he mumbled out.

Arin didn’t seem to believe him but the elevator doors opened before he could question it, the two of them falling back into silence as they wandered back to their room. The two of them wordlessly changed into their pajamas and went about their nightly routine, moving around each other like they had been doing this for years.

A few minutes later and Dan was collapsed onto his bed, arm thrown over his eyes, listening to Arin shuffle around in the bathroom. He drifted in that calm space between being awake and being asleep, letting his mind wander. 

“You know, you’ll probably regret falling asleep without getting under the covers. You’ll probably get chilly, you know how hotels can be,” a soft voice said from the foot of Dan’s bed. 

Dan peeled his arm off of his face to see Arin standing there, a small smile on his face. He had on a t-shirt but had forgone pants, sticking to sleeping in just his boxers. His hair was down and brushed his shoulders lightly. Dan loved when Arin wore his hair down.

“I know, I wasn’t asleep yet,” Dan said.

Arin just laughed and shook his head, walking over to his own bed and crawling under the covers. He flicked off the lamp on his side of the room and turned on his side, facing away from Dan.

“Night, Dan. Sleep well,” Arin murmured.

“Night, Arin,” Dan said, watching Arin for a moment before switching the light off on his side too, plunging the room into darkness.

Dan, in fact, did not sleep well.

It was now nearly two hours after Arin had turned in for the night, and Dan found himself still awake, unable to fall asleep. He couldn’t get his brain to shut off for long enough to try, and he found himself staring into the darkness of the room.

Normally, on nights like this, he’d pull out his phone and rewatch a couple of grump episodes to calm his mind, but his headphones were still tucked into the backpack on the other side of the room, and Dan really didn’t want to climb out of bed to get them. Arin was also not even five feet away from him, and it seemed kinda silly to be doing this in his presence, even if he was asleep. 

He thought for a couple of moments before giving up and grabbing his phone off of the nightstand and turning so his back was to Arin. Maybe if he had his phone one its quietest volume it wouldn’t wake Arin up. 

He unlocked his phone and grimaced at the brightness of the screen. Even on its lowest setting it felt like it was searing into his eyes. He thumbed through his phone as he looked for videos to watch, settling on Yoshi’s Cookie. He and Arin had been so exhausted that neither of them remembered any of these conversations, but after watching it back it had quickly become one of Dan’s favorites.

Once the volume was forced down as low as it could go, Dan hit the play button, forcing his phone underneath his pillow to muffle the sound. It was extremely quiet but in the silence and stillness of the room, it sounded like an air horn.

Dan panicked mildly as he heard Arin shift in his bed, but after Arin settled back down and seemed to be asleep, Dan peeled his phone out from under the pillow. He watched the video, but mainly focused on his and Arin’s voices, finding himself smiling almost immediately.

A few minutes later, Dan heard another shuffle from Arin’s side of the room and quickly pressed pause on the video.

“Are you watching grumps?” Arin asked, voice thick and gravelly with sleep. 

Dan flipped around quickly, seeing the vague outline of Arin in the darkness. He was propped up on one elbow, looking over to Dan, brushing some hair out of his face.

“Uh,” Dan started, not quite knowing how to answer. He felt bad for waking Arin up, and a weird embarrassment from being caught watching their own videos in the middle of the night. “Yeah, uh, I couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

Arin shook his head and sat up fully, taking a water bottle from the nightstand and taking a swig.

“It’s alright, I was a bit thirsty anyway. Why can’t you sleep?” Arin asked, the turned on the lamp next to him, making both of them groan slightly at the brightness.

Dan sat up as well and shyly locked his phone. He shrugged and looked down at his lap. 

“No idea, just couldn’t.”

Arin hummed in response and the two of them were quiet for a moment before Arin climbed out of bed and walked over to Dan’s. “Scoot over, let’s watch some of them together, seeing that you’ve woken me up now.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Dan said, a bit startled at Arin suddenly being next to him, but moved over so Arin had room to climb in as well. 

Arin slid into bed next to Dan, his now slightly chilly feet brushing up against Dan’s legs, making him shiver. He tugged the blanket up over them both and they both rested back against the pillows, so close that their thighs pressed together. 

Dan pulled out his phone again and continued the video, the volume turned up a bit more so Arin could hear too. Once Arin caught glimpse of what episode Dan had been watching, his face broke out into a grin.

“I love this episode. We’re so sleep deprived and stupid, it’s hysterical,” Arin said quietly.

“It’s one of my favorites too,” Dan said, laughing quietly and nudging Arin’s shoulder.

They spent the rest of the video watching quietly, giggling every once in awhile. When Dan went to play the next video, Arin moved in a bit closer to Dan, resting his head on Dan’s shoulder.

“I know this video only came out, like, a few years ago, but it feels like it’s been so much more. We’ve come so far since then,” Arin whispered quietly.

Dan smiled and reached to take Arin’s hand in his, giving it a small squeeze. 

“We have. I’m so proud of us. I’m so proud of you, man,” Dan replied. 

Arin then turned his gaze from the phone to Dan’s face.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, dude. You’re just as much to credit as I am,” Arin said, smiling softly. “Your talent and bubbliness and kindness has brought so much to grumps, has brought so much to my life. I can’t thank you enough for that. I love you.”

Dan’s face broke out into a grin and he shoved Arin lightly.

“Oh come on man…”

“I’m serious!” Arin said, then started giggling at the pink flush that had taken over Dan’s face. 

Dan was giggling too, hands covering his face, phone and video forgotten. Arin sat up and hovered over Dan, shoving his face into Dan’s neck and blowing raspberries. At the sudden ticklish sensation, Dan burst out into more giggles, squirming away from the feeling. 

After a couple minutes, after their laughter had died down, Arin was still hovering over Dan, the two of them staring at each other happily, the corner of their eyes crinkling up, cheeks flushed pink.

“Could I kiss you?” Arin asked softly, glancing down to Dan’s lips, then back up to Dan’s eyes.

Dan let out a small laugh and nodded, hands coming up to weave into Arin’s hair, pulling him down. He sighed happily at the soft press of lips against his and at the feeling of Arin’s hand moving to cup his cheek.

Needless to say, Dan slept a lot better the next few nights, Arin’s warmth pressed up against him, legs tangled and Arin’s heartbeat in his ears.


End file.
